Ontario Construction News staff writer
The federal government is advising Canadians not to travel, school boards are telling students to prepare for online learning in January and the province is putting capacity limits back on large venues.
However, construction sites are not yet affected by changes in response to the omicron variant spreading quickly across Canada.
“As we continue to learn more about the Omicron variant, we are taking additional measures to protect our progress as we head into the winter months,” said health minister Christine Elliott.
“Getting vaccinated and adhering to public health and workplace safety measures will continue to protect us and our loved ones against COVID and variants, but we won’t hesitate to continue to take swift action to ensure the continued health and safety of all Ontarians.”
The following measures have been announced:
- Delaying the lifting of proof of vaccination requirements beyond Jan. 17, 2022, aligned with the reopening plan that stipulated that doing so was contingent on the absence of concerning trends.
- Effective January 4, 2022, requiring the use of the enhanced vaccine certificate with QR code and the Verify Ontario app in settings where proof of vaccination is required. The QR code can be used digitally or by printing a paper copy.
- Strengthening the verification process for medical exemptions and clinical trial exemptions by requiring a certificate with a QR code.
Ontarians are strongly advised to limit their social gatherings and the number of gatherings they attend over the holiday season. Additional precautions should be taken if all individuals are not fully vaccinated or where vaccination status is unknown. Employers in all industries should make every effort to allow employees to work from home.
The full suite of measures is outlined in the backgrounder.
“Ontario, like other jurisdictions around the world, is seeing concerning trends in public health and health care indicators, and additional measures are required to protect our progress for the long-term,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “By taking these actions, we can help to reduce the mobility of COVID-19 and its variants, protect public health and health system capacity and save lives. This is especially important as we enter the holiday season and spend more time with family and friends. We need to keep each other safe.”